The plan would “pick up the slack” when most of the highway stimulus funds under the $814 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are used up next year, said Mike Betts, an analyst with Jefferies Group Inc. in London, according to the Bloomberg report.

Obama’s proposal would provide an economic boost and help make companies like Caterpillar more competitive, said Jim Dugan, a spokesman for the company, Bloomberg reported.

“These types of road projects put people to work quickly, which benefits the economy in the near term,” Dugan said in an e-mail, according to the report.–Tina Grady Barbaccia